It was announced today that Christopher Bassano, a top-order right-handed batsman, had been signed by the club.

Although resident in Tasmania, Chris (25) is a British National and is therefore qualified to play county cricket.

He was a member of Tasmania's Sheffield Shield squad between 1995-96 and represented their Second XI in 2000, as well as scoring heavily for Gloucestershire Seconds.

Well-known to and highly recommended by Michael Di Venuto, we look forward to his arrival in Britain in late March.

An interesting footnote is that the Bassano family can actually be traced back to roots in Derby to the early 1700s, which probably gives him at least as much local blood as anyone else at the County Ground!

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